Lorne heroin seizure the state's biggest

One man is dead and another three have been charged after a $60 million drug bust - Victoria's largest heroin seizure - in the state's south-west.

About 40 kilograms of "the most pure heroin available" was seized in Lorne on Wednesday morning after a ship carrying the drug was met by a dinghy close to the coastal town and brought ashore, the Australian Federal Police said yesterday.

A short time later, police arrested two men when they allegedly found 114 blocks of white powder.

The heroin, more than 90 per cent pure, was produced in the "Golden Triangle", (Laos, Burma and Thailand), and had an estimated street value of $60 million, said AFP general manager (Southern), Graham Ashton.

"We think this is a sizeable importation, not only in quantity, but in the type of syndicate that we've been attacking," said Mr Ashton, who headed the Australian investigation into the Bali bombing. "We're certainly hopeful that the information that we've now gained will enable us to set about dismantling the rest of the syndicate."

One of the trio charged, Qwang Lee, 34, of Singapore, was in St Vincent's Hospital yesterday with "flu like symptoms", raising speculation he had contracted severe acute respiratory syndrome.

But a Department of Human Services spokesperson said last night that Lee's symptoms did not fit the lethal condition that has killed more than 140 people worldwide.

Lee and Kiam-Fah Teng, 45, of Malaysia, face charges of possessing a prohibited import and aiding and abetting a prohibited import between March 27 and April 16.

Yau Kim Lam, 44, of Malaysia, faces one count of possessing a prohibited import after being arrested near Geelong on Wednesday night.

All three men will face Melbourne Magistrates Court on April 23.");document.write("

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An autopsy of the dead man, who was found on a beach at Boggaley Creek, about 15 kilometres west of Lorne, revealed he had drowned. Homicide squad detectives were investigating whether his death was suspicious.

The man, of Asian descent, was wearing dark-coloured tracksuit pants and jacket and was aged between 30 and 40. He carried no identification. Police believe he was a member of the landing party and that his death is linked to their investigation.

The trio is thought to have been in Australia on tourist visas.

Mr Ashton refused to give details of the ship that allegedly brought the drugs into Australia, but said that its master had been interviewed by police.

He said the importation showed the "desperate measures" that syndicates were using to import heroin.

"Here you've seen a vessel off-load on the west coast of Victoria that has travelled from Asia. Normally we do tend to see these sort of landings north of Sydney, into Queensland and northern Australia," Mr Ashton said.

He was confident police would crack the "well-organised and well-established syndicate".

Attorney-General Daryl Williams said the bust was "another tremendous success", preventing the haul of illegal drugs from reaching Australian streets.